Montana couple explains the key to love

GREAT FALLS - Betty and Gordon Naylor met in 1971 when her husband brought him home for supper.

Betty's husband passed away shortly after that dinner, which eventually led to the bachelor taking her out.

“At the time, I had a son in college and a 5-year-old, and I thought, 'Well now he’s 45-years-old, never been married, and he’s not going to go with all the problems with kids, you know? It’s going to be a problem for him.' But as it turned out, it wasn’t a problem. I think he rolled with the punches better than I did,” Betty said.

Betty, 82, and Gordon, 89, have been married for 43 years. They said talking to one another is important in a successful relationship as well as not giving up.

“I think tolerance is one thing, being able to compromise and work things out," Betty said. "To be able to communicate and to be able to express your thoughts to the other person. The positives and the negatives."

Betty said love is about putting their needs before your own.

“We take care of each other. I help him remember his pills, he helps me remember things, and I pick up the slack on what he can’t do and so he does for me. That’s just the way it is," she said.

The couple added it’s not always going to be good times and there may be a few bumps.

“He was about to run out of gas and I will never forget that because it was kind of horrifying to think of the possibility that the gas might run out before we got home," Betty said. "You probably don’t remember that but I do. But it was a memorable night for me.”

They said you need to realize how important a person is and seek out positive qualities. “The thought occurred to me that it would be rough if I had to live alone because she’s a pretty good cook,” Gordon said.

But they both agree love is an ever-changing emotion. “I think it increases as the years go by. You learn things about them, mannerisms and things, that endure you to them,” Betty said.